Effects of consumer–cause fit and consumer–product fit of cause-related marketing on product purchase intention

Abstract

While many studies have shown that cause-related marketing (CRM) is more effective when product-cause fit (PCF) is high than when it is low, some research has found otherwise. Furthermore, although a few studies demonstrated that high-PCF CRM is more effective when consumer–cause fit (CCF) or consumer–product fit (CPF) is also high, others have found that the moderating effect of CCF on high-PCF CRM is insignificant. Given the inevitable co-occurrence of CCF and CPF in CRM, CPF may moderate the effect of CCF on the effectiveness of high-PCF CRM. Hence, this research examined the interaction effect between the CCF and CPF on the effect of high-PCF CRM on consumers' product purchase intention (PPI). The results of an experiment showed that a high-PCF CRM enhanced the PPI regardless of the CCF when the CPF was low. However, when the CPF was high, high-PCF CRM enhanced the PPI when the CCF was also high but lowered the PPI when the CCF was low. The findings indicate that, for high-PCF CRM to affect PPI positively, CCF must be high when CPF is high, whereas high-PCF CRM may enhance PPI even if CCF is low when CPF is low. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd